There have been questions in the Valpo-GB thread wondering why the Horizon and other conferences on the low end of D-I award their auto bid to the conference tourney winner.

 

Let's stop and think about this a minute:

 

Say you're the Horizon League and you do it Ivy League-style and award the bid to the regular-season champ.

 

Ever noticed how there isn't an Ivy League conference tournament?

 

Because why have the tournament if there are no stakes — i.e., no auto bid to play for?

 

Say you did host a conference tournament for one of these leagues, where the only thing they're playing for is a trophy and that's the end of it. Would anyone attend? Or, more specifically, would ESPN or one of the others broadcast it? Couldn't the regular-season champ opt out because they can only hurt their seeding, and possibly sustain injuries, in advance of the NCAA tourney?

 

For some of these leagues, this is the only time they get to showcase on regular ESPN or ESPN2. It's certainly at least one of the biggest single paydays for the conference, and probably is the difference at these non-football schools between having a swim team and not. The Ivy League schools can get away without a conference tournament because, well, have you seen the endowment figures at these schools? Astronomical. Harvard will survive.

 

So, to sum it up, the reason one-bid leagues award that bid to the conference tourney winner is they can't do without the conference tourney money.

 

Individual conferences are free to structure their tournaments any way they see fit so as to give the regular-season champ the easiest possible road to the finals.

There have been questions in the Valpo-GB thread wondering why the Horizon and other conferences on the low end of D-I award their auto bid to the conference tourney winner.

 

Let's stop and think about this a minute:

 

Say you're the Horizon League and you do it Ivy League-style and award the bid to the regular-season champ.

 

Ever noticed how there isn't an Ivy League conference tournament?

 

Because why have the tournament if there are no stakes — i.e., no auto bid to play for?

 

Say you did host a conference tournament for one of these leagues, where the only thing they're playing for is a trophy and that's the end of it. Would anyone attend? Or, more specifically, would ESPN or one of the others broadcast it? Couldn't the regular-season champ opt out because they can only hurt their seeding, and possibly sustain injuries, in advance of the NCAA tourney?

 

For some of these leagues, this is the only time they get to showcase on regular ESPN or ESPN2. It's certainly at least one of the biggest single paydays for the conference, and probably is the difference at these non-football schools between having a swim team and not. The Ivy League schools can get away without a conference tournament because, well, have you seen the endowment figures at these schools? Astronomical. Harvard will survive.

 

So, to sum it up, the reason one-bid leagues award that bid to the conference tourney winner is they can't do without the conference tourney money.

 

Individual conferences are free to structure their tournaments any way they see fit so as to give the regular-season champ the easiest possible road to the finals.

 

I was at the first two rounds of the Horizon League tournament and the attendance was abysmal. The Horizon makes money through this tournament only because of a corporate sponsorship. One official in the league office commented that there were not enough people in the building on opening night to justify turning the lights on. No one showed up, and yes it's in Detroit, so not a tourist attraction at all.

 

Second, getting on ESPN is not contingent upon having the AQ at stake for the Horizon League. There is already a contract in place. The Horizon League and many of the other leagues are going to look very hard at whether to continue giving their AQ to conference tourney winners after watching Valpo, Wichita State, Monmouth, Wagner, and St. Mary's knocked out and sent packing to the NIT. It hurts a conference's brand to have a one-weekend wonder (Green Bay, Fairleigh Dickinson, Iona, Austin Peay) represent your league and get blown out by 40 when a Valpo might have actually won a game or two. Same with St. Mary's clearly the best team in their league but now NIT bound. The NCAA selection process is so biased and political that the Power 5 leagues will get almost all of the at-large berths even though some of those teams are awful. But the NCAA is all about money and politics. More reason for the leagues like the Horizon, Missouri Valley, MAAC, NEC, West Coast Conference, Ohio Valley, to send their best rep to the Big Dance.

I'm going to have to politely disagree in the strongest possible terms that ESPN or any other network would still air a conference tournament where the automatic bid has already been decided.

I'm going to have to politely disagree in the strongest possible terms that ESPN or any other network would still air a conference tournament where the automatic bid has already been decided.

 

Your argument would be extinguished if you saw the Horizon League's agreement with ESPN, per the commissioner's office and the terms applied for being a partner in the ESPN3 initiative. It has nothing to do with the AQ. The Horizon League could vote to pull the AQ from the tournament - the Wright State coach ranted this week about the format for other reasons and might be looking for employment soon - and it would not affect the ESPN contract. Apples and Oranges.

Are the championship broadcasts a cash cow forthese leagues?

 

The Ivy may add a conference tournament.

Ivy League announced today that starting next season they will hold conference tournaments.

Having a meaningless conference tournament would be dumb.

Ivy League announced today that starting next season they will hold conference tournaments.

 

I'm sorry to hear that. I've watched every one of the special one-game playoffs they've had in recent years to break first-place ties and they're among my favorite things that pops up in March. It made the league unique in a way that I thought was valuable and not just stuck in the mud for old-time's sake.

Ivy League announced today that starting next season they will hold conference tournaments.

 

It will still be quite a bit different than most conference tournaments as only 4 teams will qualify.

Go to 96 teams, allow reg season champ in, and conference tourn champ in.